While the NHL has won a victory with the players association, an old battle has been rekindled.

The NHL Players Association approved the league's latest realignment proposal for next season Thursday with the provision that it be revisited after the 2014-2015 season.

The realignment, which has been discussed in some form since 2011, will be marked by the Winnipeg Jets moving to the Western Conference while the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets switch to the East. Also, the number of divisions will be reduced from six to four.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the next step would be a vote of the Board of Governors for final approval.

Under the proposed plan, the league would be divided into two eight-team Eastern Conferences and two seven-team Western Conferences.

In addition, the new plan calls for divisional playoffs rather than the conference playoff system currently in place. The division winner with the most regular-season points would play the lowest-seeded wild-card team in the first round, with the other division winner playing the other wild-card team.

Ehh. While I'm going to miss the rivalries we've had agains Detroit I guess I'll get over it. Although it's always seemed like they never considered us a rivalry. Even games against Columbus were getting exciting recently, seemed we were building something over there...

I really hope they change the names of the divisions though.

But hey look at the bright side, we got a mathematically better chance of making the playoffs each year now! Maybe we can beat the last streak we had of making the playoffs and not doing shit.

Travel-wise, it's better for teams.Two divisions in each conference is much better than three.Glad the Blues are in the conference with fewer teams.Wish Detroit wasn't going to the east, but whatever.They should have contracted two teams to make each conference even, but whatever. They are just setting themselves up for expansion in the future.The geographical naming is off. Boston and Florida shouldn't be in a division called the "Central". Just rename the divisions the Norris, Smythe, Adams & Patrick...and then put Toronto, Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, & St. Louis in the Norris. Screw the other divisions.

I think this is the best possible scenario for the Blues when it comes to realignment. You knew Detroit was going to the East, without question. That was never in doubt. The only thing that was slightly up in the air was whether it would be Columbus or Nashville moving to the East, but since Columbus is in the Eastern time zone, they get the call.

I really like our new division. Winnipeg and Minnesota have great fan bases, Colorado used to and is slowly building things back up. Dallas always bored me a bit, but that may change now that we're division rivals.

I think this is the best possible scenario for the Blues when it comes to realignment. You knew Detroit was going to the East, without question. That was never in doubt. The only thing that was slightly up in the air was whether it would be Columbus or Nashville moving to the East, but since Columbus is in the Eastern time zone, they get the call.

I really like our new division. Winnipeg and Minnesota have great fan bases, Colorado used to and is slowly building things back up. Dallas always bored me a bit, but that may change now that we're division rivals.

We had a rivalry with Dallas back in the day. I'm all in favor of being in the same division as Dallas, afterall, they are the old Minnesota North Stars.Winnipeg also used to be in the Norris back in the day.We had fiesty and entertaining games against Columbus quite often...but Columbus is a non factor. I don't see them as even having a team in 10 years. They'll move to KC and be back in our division.

You realize what this means right? This means we could face Detroit in the Stanley Cup Finals someday.

I think this is the best possible scenario for the Blues when it comes to realignment. You knew Detroit was going to the East, without question. That was never in doubt. The only thing that was slightly up in the air was whether it would be Columbus or Nashville moving to the East, but since Columbus is in the Eastern time zone, they get the call.

I really like our new division. Winnipeg and Minnesota have great fan bases, Colorado used to and is slowly building things back up. Dallas always bored me a bit, but that may change now that we're division rivals.

We had a rivalry with Dallas back in the day. I'm all in favor of being in the same division as Dallas, afterall, they are the old Minnesota North Stars.Winnipeg also used to be in the Norris back in the day.We had fiesty and entertaining games against Columbus quite often...but Columbus is a non factor. I don't see them as even having a team in 10 years. They'll move to KC and be back in our division.

You realize what this means right? This means we could face Detroit in the Stanley Cup Finals someday.

On what planet will the wangs be playing in the playoffs any time soon?

Not picking on you Curt, your post just happened to lay out several things I disagree with and is a reason I don't like the realignment

cprice12 wrote:

Travel-wise, it's better for teams.

If you're not in the Eastern Conference "Central" Division. More specifically: if you're not named Tampa Bay or Florida.

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Two divisions in each conference is much better than three.

I don't think that's obvious. At least with three divisions it's five teams each. Not this awkward numbers business.

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Glad the Blues are in the conference with fewer teams.

Yup. Still unfair that, statistically speaking, Eastern Conference teams (and players) will have a lower chance of making the playoffs. Burns me.

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Wish Detroit wasn't going to the east, but whatever.

Yea I think Detroit and Columbus being moved to the East was a huge reason the NHLPA approved the deal. Bettman will love having Detroit playing the Maple Leafs, Bruins and Canadiens all the time. Four of the "Original Six" in one division? That's his wet dream. Blatant gamesmanship to structure it that way but I'm not surprised.

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They should have contracted two teams to make each conference even, but whatever. They are just setting themselves up for expansion in the future.

Can the NHL even support two more teams? If so, where? I'm honestly asking haha. Quebec and Hamilton? idonno

Not that I should be surprised but it's all about the money. F*ck Tampa Bay, F*ck Florida, we need to have our precious "Original Six" formula stuck with and force-feed the matchups we want to see happen; namely Pitt-Washington and the East Coast, then the aforementioned "Original Six" set up. Whatever

The NHL's Board of Governors approved the realignment plan proposed last week.

The new four-division plan, featuring a new-look set-up for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, will go into effect next season.

The NHL and NHLPA each had input into the plan to realign the League into an more geographically appropriate two-conference, four-division format that features 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and 14 teams in the Western Conference.

The Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets are moving to the Eastern Conference to provide them the ability to play the majority of their games against teams in the same time zone. The Winnipeg Jets are moving to the Western Conference for the same reason.

The Dallas Stars are staying in the Western Conference, but moving into a division that includes five other teams from the Central time zone.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs will still consist of 16 teams, eight in each conference, but it will be division-based and a wild-card system has been added as a new wrinkle.

The top three teams in each division will make-up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season points and regardless of division. It will be possible, then, for one division to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends three.

The seeding of the wild-card teams within each divisional playoff will be determined on the basis of regular-season points. The division winner with the most points in the conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lowest number of points; the division winner with the second-most points in the conference will play the wild-card team with the second fewest points.

The teams finishing second and third in each division will play in the first round of the playoffs. The winners of each series will play for berths in the Conference Championship series.

The two divisional champions in each conference will then play in the conference finals to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

The divisions will be temporarily referred to as Division A, Division B, Division C and Division D. Permanent names will be assigned later.

The Western Conference will house Division A and Division B, while Division C and D will consist of eight teams each and make up the Eastern Conference.

Division C has four Original Six franchises: Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning are also in the division.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals will join the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in Division D.

The new alignment ensures that all 30 teams play in all 30 arenas at least once per season.

The National Hockey League Players' Association has given its consent to play under the new Alignment and Playoff System for a minimum of three seasons, through the 2015-16 NHL season.The new alignment:

2013-14 realignment planHere is a breakdown of the new schedule matrix created for the new alignment plan:

Western Conference (7-team divisions)

Within Conference (Division): 29 games

* 5 games vs. five teams (3 Home/2 Away vs. two teams, 2 Home/3 Away vs. three teams) AND 4 games vs. one team (2 Home/2 Away). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

So let me get this straight- both Divisions in each Conference could send 4 teams to the playoffs, or one division could send only 3 and the other could send 5. If the first 2 rounds are within the Division, does one of the teams have to play in the other Division's divisional playoffs? For example, if 'Division A' has 3 teams in the playoffs, and 'Division B' has 5 teams, does one of the Division B teams have to play in Division A's bracket for the first 2 rounds?

So in so many words, Gary Bettman is going back to how we were doing things back when he started as commissioner? Talk about Epic Fail. Some highlights in his tenure:

* Changes the divisions to the current format.

* Moves the Jets and Nordiques, establishing the Yotes and Avs

* Re-establishes Atlanta and Nashville.

* Votes against profit sharing among teams.

* Yotes fail financially and are taken over by the NHL and are trapped in Glendale in a legal tangle worthy of being called 'spaghetti'

* Atlanta fails and are quickly moved to Winnipeg, leaving a fanbase (even if it's a small one, the image is unforgivable) that's had 2 NHL teams moved out of its city.

* Changes the divisions back into what resembles the original divisions.

* Have had not one, not two but THREE lockouts in his tenure with a fourth that was the catalyst to him becoming comissioner.

Seriously, why does this guy still have a job?

Oh, I see why. From Wikipedia:

The owners hired Bettman with the mandate of selling the game in the U.S. market, ending labor unrest, completing expansion plans, and modernizing the views of the "old guard" within the ownership ranks

So let me get this straight- both Divisions in each Conference could send 4 teams to the playoffs, or one division could send only 3 and the other could send 5. If the first 2 rounds are within the Division, does one of the teams have to play in the other Division's divisional playoffs? For example, if 'Division A' has 3 teams in the playoffs, and 'Division B' has 5 teams, does one of the Division B teams have to play in Division A's bracket for the first 2 rounds?

Division winners each get a wildcard team regardless of division. Since Round 2 is based on winners of 2 vs 3 and 1 vs wildcards and both wildcard teams can come from the same division, yes, if Division B sends 5 teams, one of the wildcard teams from Division B will play in Division A's bracket for the first two rounds. So there is the possibility of having a Conference Championship with two teams from the same Division.

They still screwed up the East with not putting the Lightning and Panthers in the same division as Carolina and Washington.

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